IUCN threat status:

Brief Summary

Biology

Palawan peacock-pheasants can be found in small groups or pairs, but scientists disagree over whether they are monogamous or polygamous. Like other peacock-pheasants (Polyplectron spp.), males of this species perform an elaborate courtship ritual to entice females to mate. They first attract a female's attention with 'courtship feeding', spreading their neck feathers and bobbing their head up and down with food in their beak, before dropping the food where the female can see it. If she takes the food, then the male will proceed with a spectacular plumage display in which he points his erected crest forwards and fans his raised tail to show off all the decorative eyespots, whilst emitting a long hissing sound and strutting around the female (8). No information about breeding biology exists from the wild, but in captivity clutches consist of two eggs, and are incubated for 18 to 20 days by the female (2). Although young are able to find their own food after a few days, the female continues to guard them for several weeks (8). The diet in the wild is believed to comprise seeds, grains, nuts, fruit, leaves, roots, insects, worms and slugs (8).